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Sunday, November 05, 2006

On, the Tangled Web

Note: here is a repost of the essay that vanished from the web page due to Blogspots inept care of their own product. Unfortunately the links are gone. I will try to refind them tomorrow.

Sometime in the middle of the night while falling asleep I was pondering the claims and counterclaims of the Haggard cae. I had just seen the video where a reporter found Haggard and got him to speak. It was here that he claimed he hired Jones but not to have sex and bought the drugs but threw them away. And it dawned on me that there was another gapping whole in his claims.

He supposedly didn’t know that Jones was a male prostitute. He said he only went for a massage and that a hotel he was staying at, one hour from his home, had recommended it but he didn’t say which hotel. So he really went to Jones for a legitimate massage. That is his story?

So he went to the front desk of his hotel, asked where he could get a legitimate massage, and they recommended the male prostitute without Haggard knowing this was the case. If that is true then why did Haggard lie about his name? Remember he told Jones that his name was Art. You can listen to the later phone calls where he used the name Art. Jones always knew Haggard as Art and didn’t know Haggard’s real name until a few months ago.

Now I can see why a man going to a prostitute for sex would used a pseudonym especially in Haggard's case. But why use a pseudonym for a legitimate massage?

He supposedly thought he was going for a legitimate massage so when he called for his appointment he would have absolutely no reason to hide his name. He is well known in evangelical circles but not that well known outside those circles -- until now. He’s been a relatively low profile fundamentalists albeit a powerful one. But even so there was no need to hide his identity under the circumstances he claimed.

But if he knew he was going to a prostitute he would have every reason to call himself “Art” instead of Ted.

And Jones was not in the business of legitimate messages. He was a prostitute. So why would the hotel send Haggard to a prosittute? Risky business for a hotel. Jones has said he advertised only in gay publications. He said that from the beginning before any claims of an unnamed hotel cropped up. Jones said, in reply, “No concierge in Denver would have referred me.” Haggard’s local newspaper reported that Jones “advertised himself as an escort only in gay publications or on gay Web sites.” If you want to see a site that was used by Jones to advertise go here. Be warned there is absolutely no way you can confuse this with a legitimate message.

And there is one more thing he has not explained. Assume the hotel sent him to a male prostitute when all he wanted was a message, unlikely I think. Assume he didn’t know he was going to a male prostitute. Assume he had some legitimate reason to lie about his name for a neck rub in spite of this. So then what happens. He goes to the message and would quickly learn that this is not a real message at all and that he has “inadvertently” booked an appointment with a male prostitute. So what does he do? He comes back several times after that.

Even if he got there by accident, which does not seem to be the case, it does not explain his repeated visits after that. It appears he knew what he was getting into. And I doubt he’ll “remember” which hotel supposedly sent him because no hotel sent him.

Now think of Jones the prostitute. Any prostitute who advertises openly risks the a police undercover agent coming in to see him. That will mean arrest for solicitation. So the prostitute has to be careful. Watch stings with prostitutes and you will see how ambiguous they are when talking to potential customers. There is a constant fear that any customer will be cop who will arrests them or shake them down for bribes.

In Haggard’s story Jones offers him meth. In Jones’ story Haggard asks for it. Now if you were worried that a client might be a cop are you going to offer them drugs? Sure it might happen but probably only after the prostitute has some assurance the client is a real client. What would convince them that the client is real? Sex would. If the client actually had sex then the prostitute might feel secure enough to go on to a more serious crime.

But according to Haggard there was no sex. He went for a legitimate message. Now if that is all he got, as he claims, then the prostitute would be doubly suspicious of the client. The client turned down sex even though they paid a premium for it. Who would turn down sex after paying for it? An undercover cop might. So if Haggard did what he claims he did then it is unlikely that Jones would have offered him drugs. Haggard's story is internally inconsistent.

In a nutshell if he was going for a legitimate message he would have no reason to lie about his name, he would have such a reason if he knowingly booked a prostitute. If he was not interested in gay sex and got there accidentally there is no reason for him to come back time after time. That he did go back indicates he went back for the reason that Jones was in business. If he refused sex then there are lots of reasons for Jones to wonder about his client and very strong reasons not to offer him meth.